The Longest Night
by Jeva
Summary: [MK] During a heist gone wrong, Kaitou Kid has taken more damage than first expected and has to depend on the one person who hates him to help him survive. What's the daughter of the police inspector in charge of capturing this criminal supposed to do?
1. Part One

**_Part One_**

He sweated as he pressed up against the wall, card gun held aloft in one hand while the other fingered the wall behind him. He panted, attempting to catch his breath after the strenuous act that had taken most of the energy he had.

A bullet to the gut could slow even the strongest man, so he'd heard. It was only too bad it applied for phantom thieves, too.

He grinned at the thought, teeth biting the insides of his cheek, before whispering to himself, "So much for being a phantom..." With all the blood that was pouring from his body, he would have been surprised if the 1412 Taskforce _couldn't_ ID him.

Ah, well. Deal with that later, he told himself as he winced, shutting an eye as the pain spiked. For now, he had to survive.

Survive the man who killed his father and who was now hunting for him.

Movement from around the corner of the wall made him tense. Slowly, he readied his card gun, mentally groaning in anxiety as his vision blurred for a moment. Not good. _Not good._ But he pushed past the dizziness and the vertigo, swallowed back the vomit snaking its way up his throat, and focused on his target.

He'd never killed a person before, but to survive, he would probably have to.

He wasn't ready to.

His hand was shaking ever-so-slightly as he lowered it to aim at the person who would round the corner.

_Any minute..._

They walked into his view--his finger pressed against the trigger--his hand spasmed and dropped the gun when he saw who it was he was aiming at.

Nakamori Aoko stared at him like a wide-eyed doe caught in a pair of headlights.

He cursed himself for dropping the gun--even if it was more than surprise and shock that had caused it. He quickly tried to make up for his folly by darting for the weapon--

Pain lanced through his body--nerve endings screamed at him to stop--and stop he did, collapsing against the wall, clenching his teeth and hissing out air before swallowing up fresher air in a hiccup-like gulp. He was frozen. His left hand pressed against the wound, staining the white cloth red.

Not good.

He couldn't _move._

Aoko seemed to recover somewhat when she realized what was going on and stammered out in disbelief, "K-Kaitou Kid?"

He looked to her with a strained smile, an eye sliding closed again so that his vision would stop trying to double on him. "E-evening, ojousan," he managed to get out before asking with some irony, "Lovely...night, wouldn't you say?"

"You're bleeding," was the stunned answer.

"O-oh this?" he asked with a small laugh, which was cut short as he inhaled sharply. Okay, no laughing--what a pity. "Tis but a...flesh wound and a-all that--"

"Idiot!" the girl shouted at him, eyes still wide but expression firm. "You're really injured!"

"Seems like," he said dryly, giving a faint shrug. "But there's--ah--little to be done." He then gestured vaguely at where his card gun lay. "If you'd just be...kind enough to hand me that--and be on your way...the man I'm waiting for--he doesn't care for innocents--"

"Are you nuts?" Aoko broke in, looking from the gun to the thief before pointing to the weapon. "That thing won't do any good against a real gun! And anyway, you'll just get yourself killed--!"

"Aa..." he responded quietly, struggling to push himself inch by inch up the wall. "So it--would be better...i-if you'd just--go on your way, ojousan--"

"Stupid thief! You're not allowed to die before my father catches you!"

Even though he knew it would hurt, he started laughing. This time he didn't allow the pain to cut him off. "You'll have to send my apologies then--Nakamori-chan," he said when he'd managed to catch his breath again. "Even if...the man who's after me--even if he's already left...there's no time."

There wasn't. Things were getting dim around the edges, and he _couldn't move._ All the effort he'd made to stay standing was for naught as he slowly started to drop to the ground. His gloved fingers were sticky with blood--same with his entire right side of his abdomen and pant leg. Even though he should have been worrying about Aoko discovering his identity before or after he died in front of her eyes--wouldn't _that_ just make his day?--his muzzled thoughts idly wondered if this particular suit was beyond repair. He was running low on spares...

Then sudden feeling of his right arm being grabbed did more than enough to wake him up. Especially since it was being slung over Aoko's shoulders. "O-ojousan--" he started to object weakly but couldn't find the words he wanted to use.

"I said you're not allowed to die until my father catches you, Kaitou Kid," the daughter of Nakamori Ginzo said firmly, pulling the thief into a standing position, ignoring the mute sounds he made in protest. "So get up and let's get moving."

He wanted to pushed her away, but his only free hand was soaked with blood, and in his more irrational moments, he refused to get blood on her--even though leaning against her was enough to soak her clothes with it. So, unable to articulate all the things wrong with the scenario they were both in, he merely whispered, "Card gun...he might be--"

"Stupid toy, got it," Aoko muttered, bending over a minute to retrieve the gun. She didn't spare it a glance before stuffing it into one of his more obvious pockets. "There. Happy?"

Not at all, he thought gloomily. He was dead, and his secret was going to be revealed. Not to mention the fact that he had only wanted the card gun as a measure of defense. Not a lot of defending would happen with it in his pocket...

But he couldn't tell Aoko this as he tried to stifle some coughs--_painful_ ones.

He tasted blood.

A nervous look from Aoko made him swallow back the coughs long enough to smile back at her. "I'm okay," he reassured her with a very obvious lie.

She took the lie with a small amount of comfort.

"Young Master!"

He forced the teenaged girl to stop. It was faint but he knew he'd heard the old and worried voice. Against Aoko's wishes, he pulled himself away long enough to turn in the direction of the voice had come from. He then brought his right hand to his lips, making a long, loud, and sharp whistle.

"What're you--?" Aoko tried to ask as he leaned against the wall again.

"Three..." he started to countdown with a small grin. "Two...one--"

Konosuke Jii rounded the last corner, running toward him with a shout of worry. "Young master!"

"Jii-chan," he interrupted while he could still speak, "I think I've left too much evidence..."

The old man shook his head in exasperation as he kneeled next to the thief, cutting his suit with a pair of scissors--so much for it still being good to use, the thief thought sadly to himself--he'd produced to reveal the wound, nasty as it was. "That can be taken care of later, young master. Let me look at this first or--"

"The bullet's in there somewhere," was the dazed analysis from the injured party. He then idly waved his bloodied hand. "And Nakamori-chan here was just attempting to keep me alive for her father to catch--" He cut himself off to close his eyes and catch his breath. He was so tired...

"Is he going to die?" Aoko asked uncertainly.

"No, Nakamori-san," Jii answered with as calm a voice as he could managed, "But if you wish for this Kaitou Kid to live long enough to be caught by your father, I'm afraid I'll need your help."

The phantom thief mentally laughed to himself as he continued to focus on his breathing. As if things weren't bad enough...now Aoko would be considered an accomplice if someone were to discover them!

When would the night just end? he wondered faintly just before everything went dark.

* * *

_Author's Note: _Holy crap. Yes, I know. I should stop writing new stories...but I can't help it! Anyway, this should turn out to be an interesting story. ...guess we'll see as the story continues, ne? Hope you enjoyed the read! 


	2. Part Two

**_Part Two_**

Aoko nearly jumped over to shake the thief awake, to make sure he was going to stay _alive_, when the old man--_Jii-chan?_--assured her, "He's still alive, but passed out from blood loss."

She let out a sigh, putting a hand to her head. "Stupid thief," she said to herself.

There was so much that was running through her mind right then--why was she helping him, why didn't she just call for her father to take care of the injured thief, why was she not listening to her own logic in the fact that she _shouldn't be doing this?_--but she pushed everything aside as she watched "Jii-chan" work on his "young master". As he worked on making a make-shift patch to stem the blood that was oozing from the wound, she muttered to herself, "Had to go and get himself shot--"

"Yes, he can be quite reckless," the old man agreed absently with some fondness that made Aoko stare at him. He then sobered somewhat as he finished his work and pulled Kaitou Kid's right arm over his shoulders, "But if we do not hurry, there will surely be no chance for him to be so reckless again."

"Jeez," the girl muttered again to herself as she, much her own dismay, took the position on Kid's left. "If it weren't for the fact that my father is the one who is supposed to catch him--"

"I'm sure quite a few detectives and police officers would object with that, Nakamori-san," Jii-chan said with some grim amusement as they began to make their escape--what had she gotten herself into? "Either way," he continued, "the young master will certainly be at once relieved and thankful for your help while also angry at himself for having gotten you into his affairs."

"If he didn't want me involved, he should have turned himself in ages ago," Aoko murmured sourly before glancing to the unconscious Kid's face, still somewhat hidden by the top hat knocked askew and the glass monocle sitting over his right eye.

Despite the fact that she could care less about who he was, she couldn't help wondering about those features that eluded her sight. Who was Kaitou Kid, she found herself wondering, and did he really deserve being injured almost to the point that he could die?

She pushed those thoughts, like she did all of the others that screamed at her, to the back of her mind as Jii-chan led them through different locations--none of which Aoko could keep track of--well out of the way of the site of the botched Kaitou Kid heist. Whoever this Jii-chan was, he certainly knew his way around.

After what seemed like ages, the old man pushed open a door to reveal a spartan room that was only filled with a table, chair, a hurricane lantern, a sink, and a very small closet. While Aoko took in the odd sight, the man-servant (Aoko was almost sure that's what his role was) told her, "I need to gather a few things, Nakamori-san. Do you think you can hold onto him?"

The girl looked uncertainly to the limp phantom thief but answered, "Sure," without much thought.

She discovered then that Kid was not _nearly_ even _close_ to being as light as he appeared. Thankfully, Jii-chan was quick and soon had a futon pulled out of the closet and what looked to be advanced medical kits ready.

Within moments, Kid was laid out on the futon, pale and covered in more blood than Aoko could ever recall seeing in her entire life. Jii-chan, however, ignored how his master appeared and quickly began the task of removing the white suit's jacket--

"Thank you for your assistance, Nakamori-san," the old man said as he put aside the jacket to get started on removing the reddish tie and blue shirt, "however, it would be wise if you would head home."

"Eh?" Aoko asked in confusion before realizing what he was saying. "What a minute! I'm not leaving until I know he won't end up dying--"

"The young master will have a difficult recovery time since we cannot take him to a hospital," Jii-chan said as he assessed the damage of the wound without removing the field dressings, "but he is determined to not let those who did this get the best of him. In time, he will be back at heists--"

"You can't seriously think I'll just _leave_," Aoko exclaimed with some outrage. What was the point in helping the stupid thief if she couldn't stay to see if he would _make it?_

"We have our methods to return you home if you will not--"

"Let her stay...Jii-chan."

Aoko blinked in surprise before staring down at the pale and weak Kaitou Kid lying on the futon--top hat gone from his head but face still hidden by the shadows of the unlit room. How he had managed to still wake up and say something made her wonder if he was really human.

The old man looked imploringly at Kid. "Young master, this is hardly the time--"

"If I end up dying...the jig's up anyway." A wry and almost wicked grin crossed the thief's lips though his eyes remained shut. "So why not take the risk?"

Jii-chan sweated uncomfortably. "Please don't say such things, young master."

"Aa," Kid muttered in acknowledgement. "Sorry, Jii-chan." There was a small pause before he continued, "Stay if you'll like, Nakamori-chan--and if you feel the need to reveal where I am to your father, feel free."

It was utterly unfair, Aoko decided with some anger. Having a severely injured person tell her that she could turn him in to the police at any moment even if it was clearly against what they would like was just _unfair_. What kind of person could decide that kind of thing with a clear conscience?

What kind of person could help a world-renown criminal escape being caught by the police, though?

She scowled at him. "Idiot. I said my dad would be the one to catch you--_fair and square!_"

...what kind of person was she in this case?

Kid chuckled a bit before wincing. "That's still up in the air...especially on who will get me first," he said before directing his next comment to Jii-chan. "Do we have enough painkillers?"

The old man shook his head. "I am sorry, young master, but not enough for such a task as removing a bullet. However, you are fortunate enough to have it miss vital organs."

"Lucky" Kid sing-songed weakly before screwing his eyes even more tightly shut. "Whatever you...have to do, Jii-chan."

The old man nodded and turned to grab the hurricane lantern. Aoko watched with a faint amount of confusion as he then struck a match and lit the lantern until Kid explained in a deceptively calm manner, "Bullet in the gut...can't go to the doctor...Jii-chan's going to have to get the bullet out and stitch me up himself..."

The girl's eyes widened at the thought. "Without any pain relievers? No anesthesia? While you're _conscious?_"

"Actually..." the thief said distantly, turning his head to the side and out of Aoko's view--maybe to hide some form of emotion that wasn't supposed to be seen on the legendary Kaitou Kid's face. "I'll probably pass out in the middle of the operation...but I need to stay awake as long as possible to help Jii-chan locate the bullet."

This was punctuated by the old man pulling on a pair of rubber gloves.

Kid turned back to Aoko with a closed-eyed smile as he held out his right hand. "And it's probably...shameful of me to ask this but...you've been determined to help me survive so far. So...would you mind too much if you...held my hand? I promise I won't accidentally try to break your fingers..."

Aoko stared at the offered hand before looking down at the smiling man whose pale face and slick brow betrayed his discomfiture for all to see. It was...odd...being able to see something else on his face than a smile, a grin, or even a smirk. It was...

She looked back to his hand as she flusteredly realized he was actually offering a temporary truce...something that would only last until he was operative again. It was _not_ something the daughter of the man in charge of capturing this very criminal should be considering.

So why was she?

She made an irritated noise and snatched the pristine white gloved hand into her own. "_Fine_," she snapped, sitting herself down next to the futon, muttering all the while, "Such a baby..."

Kid grinned distantly at the insults. "Ready, Jii-chan?"

"Just a moment, young master," the old man said before turning back to the futon--mask and gloves on with a few tools beside him, ready for use. "First...young master, you might disagree but...Nakamori-san, if you'd be so kind, please blind-fold yourself."

A momentary pause followed the request.

"Eh? Why!" the girl demanded hotly.

Kid sighed tiredly.

Jii-chan frowned--or Aoko believe that what his furrowed brow meant. "Please, Nakamori-san. Young master cannot hold his defenses through this kind of ordeal and I--if not he himself--would feel better if you weren't able to see him at his most vulnerable--"

"Definitely not _most_, Jii-chan," Kid objected wryly, "but...Nakamori-chan, can you give Jii-chan a break...and do it before I end up dying from blood loss and-or lead poisoning?"

Aoko scowled, jerking her hand from his to reach for a scarf that happened to still be in one of the shredded and stained white jacket's inner pockets. "I'm beginning to think I _want_ to leave now..." she murmured crossly as she tied the cloth tightly around her eyes.

"So soon?" the thief asked in what would have been a cheeky manner if he hadn't sounded so tired, weak...frail, even.

His hand grabbed hers before she could linger on the thought for long.

* * *

_Author's Notes: _Yuuuuuup. It gets that good...even better. ...I think. -sweatdrops- Oi. I'm writing this as I go. I have no idea what will happen. But I promise that there will be lots of confusion, drama...maybe even some angst. -snerk- It's only fair. Seriously. Fluff is for the weak!

Hope you all enjoyed and yeah...next part coming soon!


End file.
